- The issue of weight seems to be one of the most commonly mistaken aspects of medieval combat. Smiths all made swords slightly differently and each fighter had his own preferences. It is impossible to generalize when it comes to the technology of an entire continent from c/ 500-1500 AD, and both very heavy and very light swords existed. In terms of what was typical, though,, here’s a rough guide to averaged:
Single-handed sword (aka sword) - 2.5 pounds
Hand-and-a-half (aka bastard sword) 2.5-3 lbs
Two-hander (aka longsword) - 3 to 3.5 pounds.
The absolute largest swords still rarely hit the 5-pound mark. These were designed to serve very specific tactical functions on the battlefield and were not intended for general-use purposes. Experience showed smiths and warriors that this was the ideal weight range for their weapon. It’s essentially natural selection at work: people whose swords were too light or too heavy went off to battle and didn’t come back. Those with properly weighted swords did. Any heavier and it becomes unwieldy. Any lighter and it lacks the momentum to hit with sufficient force.
Conversely, most Japanese Swords weighed slightly more than European swords relative to their length. Once again, though, keep in mind that this is not a bad thing, nor does it imply that they were slow or relied on brute strength over skill. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the sword's weight gives the fighter the power he needs so he can devote his muscle to technique. Light swords are not very effective when it comes to penetrating any armor, be it plate, chain, or leather. (Fencing foils and other ultralight weapons only came about after gunpowder caused armor to die out, and the heavier two-handers hit their prime when armor was at its fullest.)
In practice, the weight variation is not significant enough that it would make a noticeable difference in combat, but it is there. The Japanese smith would face the exact same system of natural selection as the European one, but due to different environmental conditions the result came out slightly different.
Heavy and cumbersome armor
- A full suit of high quality plate armor weighed on average 55-65lbs. Though there was variation based on the technology available from one century to another or according to one's financial means, this remains a decent rule of thumb from the legionnaires of ancient Rome to knights in full plate to modern Marines. The logic is the same as it was for determining the weight of a sword: You want as much protection as you can possibly afford without it becoming unwieldy. For a well-trained, fit man this limit is around 60 lbs.
There are records in the Middle Ages of people in full plate (i.e. 1350 and later) being able to climb ropes, roll, cartwheel, and even jump onto their horses without using the stirrup. Modern tests confirm these reports.
There are stories about knights needing cranes to get on their horse, or needing squires to help them if the fall on their back. Neither of these stories have any real historical basis. If armor were such a liability, nobody would have worn it, let alone spend a fortune on it. The very fact that it exists in number and for such a long time is proof enough that it is better than going unprotected.
Fighters with swords on their backs
-It is physically impossible for a human to draw a straight, average-length sword from their back while in its sheath. A sword worn on the back is usually curved or short. Cases of back-sheaths were virtually unheard of in Europe and rare elsewhere. (In those cases, the swords were very short. A Roman Gladius or modern machete would still be too long to draw with any degree of comfort.) A fighter might plausible wear a sword in this manner if he had absolutely no intention of fighting any time soon, since it is arguably easier to move around and sit down without it getting in the way.
Archers with quivers on their backs
-This is almost the same as the previous misconception, but it is even more common to hear about. Arrows can be gripped in the middle and are thus possible to draw, but the motion is much more slow and awkward than a draw from the hip, or even better, by sticking the arrows into the ground ahead of time. That being said, images of quivers are still extremely rare in medieval artwork and were simply not used in combat situations in Medieval Europe. Speaking of archers…
Fast and slim medieval archers
- A quality longbow back in the middle ages was made of yew or ash, and needed to have an effective range of up to 300 yards and enough power to penetrate mail. A bow that meets these requirements is going to have a draw weight of somewhere between 120 - 180 pounds. That's like lifting a grown man with three fingers. If anything, an archer was likely to be bigger and stronger than the frontline soldiers. Excavations reveal that the skeletons of medieval archers were permanently warped from the strain of such repeated and imbalanced muscle stress. They did not wear much armor only because archers were never nobility, and therefore couldn't afford any.
Shiny, battle-ready swords
- No matter how well polished, high-carbon steel (the metal swords were made of) just isn’t all that shiny. A common metal for modern decorative swords is stainless steel, which is conveniently rust resistant as well as attractively bright. It is also very hard. Which seems like a good thing, until your realize that so is glass. A real medieval sword has to be able to bend slightly in order to help absorb shock, and a sword that is too hard will be rigid and more prone to snap or shatter. A harder sword can keep a nice straight cutting line and hold an extra sharp edge better, but it also runs the risks mentioned above. The Japanese sword was developed in a less armor-intensive environment, so they can afford to place less emphasis on durability in favor of a keener edge. Often, Japanese swordsmanship techniques involve "using the opponent's energy against them." This is partially because it is an effective technique, but it is also to protect the weapon from taking too many direct hits.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
A List of the Best Medieval movies....do you agree?
I found this list of the Best Medieval Movies, you can actually go to the site and up or down vote them. I loved tons of these movies and if you are looking for a good list to have a Medieval Movie power watching session here is a good list. One tip if you have never seen Flesh & Blood with Rutger Hauer you have to watch it, excellent. If there any good movies not on the list you suggest please put it in comments.
The Best Medieval Movies
It is Sunday, Funday.....Medieval Style....It is story time and there be Dragons
Today's post is going to be more geared towards some fantasy images and fun base pictures and links in the Medieval style.
I saw this picture of this castle in the clouds and could just imagine this could perhaps be the castle of the Dragon lords? That learn the way of the Dragon, and help protect the ancient ones from the Dark powers of the Evil ones.
These Brave knights do not rule the Dragons as no one can ever truly rule a Dragon but fight to uphold the Knights Code taught to them by the wise Dragons. And protect the secret of the Dragon Fire that cannot be loosed upon the world.
They hope one day there will be peace so they can finally go home and lay down their Swords to be with the fair Maidens they love. But alas this is not the time as there must be an Epic Battle of good Vs.Evil.
Their loves patiently wait for them.
Their loves patiently wait for them.
Always looking towards the skies to see if their Brave Knights are returning to them upon the back of a Dragon. Once again there is no sign.
To be continued next week..........
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And now I wanted to share a totally epic series by author Michael J. Sullivan who is a fan's best friend. I have personally always got a personal reply from Michael when ever asking him questions about his novels and upcoming work. When I found this series I could not put it down, it is now in my favorites series.....I shared this from Good reads where you can go to learn more and how to get the series. Also note if you add the author as a friend he has always emailed me a free copy of his work (usually a short story but well worth it)!
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Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations #1-2)
(click the link for the original source)
by Michael J. Sullivan (Goodreads Author)
THEY KILLED THE KING. THEY PINNED IT ON TWO MEN. THEY CHOSE POORLY.
There's no ancient evil to defeat or orphan destined for greatness, just unlikely heroes and classic adventure. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, are two enterprising rogues who end up running for their lives when they're framed for the murder of the king. Trapped in a conspiracy that goes beyond the overthrow of a tiny kingdom, their only hope is unraveling ancient mystery before it's too late. (less)
Note there are more books in the series and Michael is currently working on more that will be hopefully available this year!
Friday, May 8, 2015
Truth versus fiction on Medieval weapons and armor
Truth versus fiction on Medieval weapons and armor
Great Article on:
Medieval Misconseptions (click link for original)
Tribute to the wonderful artwork of Edmund Leighton
This is a tribute to the Amazing work of Edmund
Blair Leighton. The pictures are amazing
I could just look at these pictures for hours you really feel like you are
there! If you look at each picture try to look at all the details even in the
background.
Edmund Blair Leighton (21 September 1852 – 1 September 1922) was an English painter
of historical genre scenes, specializing in Regency and medieval subjects.
God Speed is a painting by British artist Edmund Leighton,
depicting an armored knight departing to war and leaving his beloved. The woman
ties a red sash around the knight's arm, which he is meant to return, a medieval
custom which assured both parties that they would be reunited, alive and well.[1] Agriffin on
the banister of the stairs is a symbol of strength and military courage.[1] The knight departs through a castle gate
with portcullis.
The painting was exhibited in the Royal Academy of Arts in 1900.[2]
God Speed was the first of several paintings by Leighton in the
1900s on the subject of chivalry, the others being
The Accolade (1901)
The Accolade (1901)
Tristan and Isolde (1902)
Sunday, May 3, 2015
How did the Medieval peasant really live??
The stereotype of the medieval peasant is a toothless, filthy, ignorant wretch. Or were they? Terry Jones discovers that peasants were in fact literate, emancipated, highly political and legally savvy, house proud and healthy, and responsible for the peasants revolt of 1381.
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This is a great video that teaches you about what it may have been like in Medieval England up to the great Peasant Revolt. It is quite entertaining and not boring at all. A lot of what you may have pictured in your head about peasants may change, this is worth the watch.
Got Kids? Get Medieval
Sharing some great info to keep the spark of learning alive with some great books for kids to learn about Medieval life. Sharing from Medievalist.net which is a totally great site!
Got Kids? Get Medieval
– JUNE 26, 2014POSTED IN: BOOKS, FEATURES, TEACHING RESOURCES
by David MacCaulay (with Sheila Keenan)
by Justine Ciovacco and Ryan Hobson
by Andrew Langley
by Michael Prestwich
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Story of the World Video Links: SOTW 2, Chapter 16 - England After the Conquest
Story of the World Video Links: SOTW 2, Chapter 16 - England After the Conquest: I was able to find the PBS DVD, Castle, at our public library. I've posted the YouTube links for your convenience.
Sharing from a fellow blogger, she has a great site for homeschooling videos!
Sharing from a fellow blogger, she has a great site for homeschooling videos!
It must be Saturday!!!! Medieval style
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joris_Hoefnagel_Fete_at_Bermondsey_c_1569.png
A big day out everyone is dressed in their finest garb
A big day out everyone is dressed in their finest garb
Do not let your ears show!
It is good to be king!
A little after dinner entertainment with punch and Judi
Watch out you will poke your eye out kid!
Ok time for Dessert after all that fun!
Entertainment in the middle ages
****** Entertainment in the Middle Ages Click this link for source ******
Life in the middle ages was not all hard work! Even the loneliest or poorest peasant could take part in church festivals, join a marriage or funeral procession, or watch and listen to travelling poets, musicians, acrobats and dancers. Perhaps the village would be visited by a troupe leading a performing bear or dancing monkey. We would consider this sort of "entertainment" as cruel nowadays but in the middle ages it was quality entertainment.
Fun and games were often centred around particular times of year. At christmas, groups of villagers would dress up as "mummers" and visit the lord's home. There they would sing and perform some sketches in return for special christmas food and perhaps some money. On May day, young men and girls would get up early in the morning and play games in the bright spring sunlight, before gathering green branches to decorate their homes.
There were other festivals related to the seasons and to the agricultural year. Many of these had survived from pre-Christian times and were frowned on by the church, which was however powerless to stop them. At Midsummer for instance the villagers would light bonfires and hold various sports and games. People thought that by lighting a fire when the sun was at it's strongest, they would make sure it returned to ripen their crops the following year.
Daily life of a Medieval Peasants.....not so much fun
Life was nothing like what they portray at your local Ren Fest for the everyday person AKA Peasant. It was a hard and usually short life compared to todays standards. I have shared some great info from around the web below all links included from the original source.
The Lifestyle of Medieval Peasants
The lifestyle of peasants in Medieval England was extremely hard and harsh. Many worked as farmers in fields owned by the lords and their lives were controlled by the farming year. Certain jobs had to be done at certain times of the year. Their lives were harsh but there were few rebellions due to a harsh system of law and order.
Ploughing - a vital farm job
The peasants were at the bottom of the Feudal System and had to obey their local lord to whom they had sworn an oath of obedience on the Bible. Because they had sworn an oath to their lord, it was taken for granted that they had sworn a similar oath to the duke, earl or baron who owned that lord’s property.
The position of the peasant was made clear by Jean Froissart when he wrote:
| It is the custom in England, as with other countries, for the nobility to have great power over the common people, who are serfs. This means that they are bound by law and custom to plough the field of their masters, harvest the corn, gather it into barns, and thresh and winnow the grain; they must also mow and carry home the hay, cut and collect wood, and perform all manner of tasks of this kind.
Written in 1395
|
The one thing the peasant had to do in Medieval England was to pay out money in taxes or rent. He had to pay rent for his land to his lord; he had to pay a tax to the church called a tithe. This was a tax on all of the farm produce he had produced in that year. A tithe was 10% of the value of what he had farmed. This may not seem a lot but it could make or break a peasant’s family. A peasant could pay in cash or in kind – seeds, equipment etc. Either ways, tithes were a deeply unpopular tax. The church collected so much produce from this tax, that it had to be stored in huge tithe barns. Some of these barns can still be seen today. There is a very large one in Maidstone, Kent, which now has a collection of carriages in it.
Peasants also had to work for free on church land. This was highly inconvenient as this time could have been used by the peasant to work on their own land. However, the power of the church was such that no-one dared break this rule as they had been taught from a very early age that God would see their sins and punish them.
The Domesday Book meant that the king knew how much tax you owed and you could not argue with this – hence why it brought ‘doom and gloom’ to people.
After you had paid your taxes, you could keep what was left – which would not be a great deal. If you had to give away seeds for the next growing season, this could be especially hard as you might end up with not having enough to grow let alone to feed yourself.
Peasants lived in cruck houses. These had a wooden frame onto which was plastered wattle and daub. This was a mixture of mud, straw and manure. The straw added insulation to the wall while the manure was considered good for binding the whole mixture together and giving it strength. The mixture was left to dry in the sun and formed what was a strong building material.
What a cruck house may have looked like - minus the wattle and daub
Cruck houses were not big but repairs were quite cheap and easy to do. The roofs were thatched. There would be little furniture within the cruck houses and straw would be used for lining the floor. The houses are likely to have been very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. Windows were just holes in the walls as glass was very expensive. Doors might be covered with a curtain rather than having a door as good wood could be expensive
At night, any animal you owned would be brought inside for safety. There were a number of reasons for this.
First, wild animals roamed the countryside. England still had wolves and bears in the forests and these could easily have taken a pig, cow or chickens. The loss of any animal could be a disaster but the loss of valuable animals such as an ox would be a calamity.
If left outside at night they could also have been stolen or simply have wandered off. If they were inside your house, none of these would happen and they were safe. However, they must have made the house even more dirty than it usually would have been as none of these animals would have been house-trained. They would have also brought in fleas and flies etc. increasing the unhygienic nature of the house.
The houses would have had none of the things we accept as normal today – no running water, no toilets, no baths and washing basins. Soap was unheard of and as was shampoo. People would have been covered with dirt, fleas and lice. Beds were simply straw stuffed mattresses and these would have attracted lice, fleas and all types of bugs. Your toilet would have been a bucket which would have been emptied into the nearest river at the start of the day.
Water had a number of purposes for peasants – cooking, washing etc. Unfortunately, the water usually came from the same source. A local river, stream or well provided a village with water but this water source was also used as a way of getting rid of your waste at the start of the day. It was usually the job of a wife to collect water first thing in the morning. Water was collected in wooden buckets. Villages that had access to a well could simply wind up their water from the well itself.
Towns needed a larger water supply. Water could be brought into a town using a series of ditches; lead pipes could also be used. Water in a town would come out of conduit which was similar to a modern day fountain.
Bathing was a rarity even for the rich. A rich person might have a bath just several times a year but to make life easier, several people might use the water before it was got rid of!
It was said that a peasant could expect to be fully bathed just twice in their life; once, when they were born and when they had died! Face and hand washing was more common but knowledge of hygiene was non-existent. No-one knew that germs could be spread by dirty hands.
London had a number of public baths near the River Thames. These were called "stews". Several people at one time would bath in them. However, as people had to take off what clothes they wore, the stews also attracted thieves who would steal what they could when the victims were hardly in a position to run after them!
Regardless of how water was acquired, there was a very real potential that it could be contaminated as toilet waste was continuously thrown into rivers which would make its way into a water source somewhere.
Families would have cooked and slept in the same room. Children would have slept in a loft if the cruck house was big enough.
The lives of peasant children would have been very different to today. They would not have attended school for a start. Very many would have died before they were six months old as disease would have been very common. As soon as was possible, children joined their parents working on the land. They could not do any major physical work but they could clear stones off the land – which might damage farming tools – and they could be used to chase birds away during the time when seeds were sown. Peasant children could only look forward to a life of great hardship.
For all peasants, life was "nasty, brutish and short."
MLA Citation/Reference
"The Lifestyle of Medieval Peasants". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web.
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